The No. 1 benefit the class of 2023 wants from employers

The class of 2023 has different workplace expectations than generations past, including the benefits they want from employers. Recently, I spoke with Christy Spilka, VP and global head of talent acquisition at recruiting software firm iCIMS, about the company’s latest research on new grads. The findings are clear: Gen Z hires want stability. 

The current graduating class is not looking for job offers padded with fancy gym memberships or subsidized pet care. Instead, they want benefits that improve their financial situation. In a survey of 1,000 college seniors, 50% of respondents said they want bonus eligibility and overtime pay.

They’re also considering their long-term financial health. Forty-two percent of people said they want a 401(k) as well as 401(k) matching, and over a third of respondents (34%) expressed interest in access to financial advisory programs for guidance on home buying, student loan repayment, and other debt.

“When you think about the last few years and what this group has gone through, they’ve had internships canceled on them, some of them at the very last minute,” says Spilka. “They’ve seen so many fluctuations in our economy, and I think that will carry through for them in the years ahead.”

One key difference between 2023 and 2022 grads is that the former appears to care less about their employers providing mental health resources. While 67% of surveyed 2022 grads expected their employer to support their mental health and participate in open conversations about it, 41% of the class of 2023 expect the same. Spilka says the shift is likely tied to 2023 grads’ expectation that employers provide flexibility to help support their mental health rather than tangible benefits. 

“I see a little shift where there’s even more emphasis on total compensation and flexibility. Those things have gone up a bit more, and [mental health benefits] have come down a little more,” says Spilka. But she notes that almost half of 2023 grads are interested in mental health support. They simply want employers to go beyond providing access to a therapist and to create a healthy work environment.

Amber Burton
amber.burton@fortune.com
@amberbburton

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“We see when people actually come back together [in office] the energy, power, and spontaneousness that does not happen on a call. What I think is not going to work is the demands to come back and an expectation that people will return in the same way they did pre-pandemic. That is not going to happen. Or you'll be looking at a much less diverse, much less talented group of people in your workforce.”

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